Royal Road Minerals Limited (CVE:RYR) (OTCMKTS:RRDMF) (FRA:RLU) has shared positive interim drilling results from its Caribe gold discovery in northeastern Nicaragua.
The company said a follow-up diamond drilling program started at the project in August 2020 has returned encouraging initial results including hole CB-DDH-016 which returned 1.0 gram per tonne (g/t) gold at 100.45 meters; CB-DDH-017 which returned 1.0 g/t gold at 90 meters, and CB-DDH-015 which returned 1.0 g/t gold at 63 meters.
The Toronto-based junior’s Caribe project forms part of its strategic alliance agreement with Hemco Mineros Nicaragua, a subsidiary of Colombia's Grupo Mineros SA and is in the highly prospective golden triangle of northeastern Nicaragua. Royal Road is the operator of the strategic alliance.
READ: Royal Road Minerals picks up drilling permits for its Guintär-Niverengo project in Colombia
Royal Road's exploration team discovered the Caribe project during reconnaissance exploration in February 2018. Outcrop at Caribe is concealed under soil and laterite cover and there is no previous record of mining or mineralization in the area. In 2019, Royal Road and Hemco completed an initial four-hole, exploratory drilling program at Caribe which returned promising results for gold.
The company shared results from a further three exploratory drill holes in the 2020 follow-up diamond drilling program which included:
- CB-DDH-021 hole returned 1.0 g/t gold at 29 meters
- CB-DDH-022 hole returned 1.2 g/t gold at 12 meters within a broader halo of 44 meters at 0.7 g/t gold
- CB-DDH-023 hole returned 1.85 g/t copper equivalent at 10.1 meters
The company said multi-element analyses of drill hole geochemical data and the copper mineralization intersected in drill hole CB-DDH-023 are interpreted to imply "a concealed copper and molybdenum (possibly porphyry style) mineralized system located outside the limits of the lower temperature gold mineralized halo."
"We are very excited by both the immediate near-surface gold potential and the possibility of a deeper porphyry-style system at Caribe and pleased that the project seems to be finally giving up its secrets," said Royal Roads President and CEO Dr Tim Coughlin in a statement.
However, he added: "Laboratory turnaround times have been very frustrating, and we are working with our contractors to ensure that this situation is rectified."
Exploratory drilling is continuing at Caribe and the company intends to complete IP geophysics at the project. It is awaiting the delivery of a portable Rotary Air Blast/Reverse Circulation (RAB/RC) drilling rig with capacity to sample beneath the soil and laterite cover across a wide area.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive